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22 N.Y.2d 8

Weicker v. Weicker

New York Court of Appeals

Decided April 18, 1968

New York Court of Appeals · decided 1968-04-18

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“a revival of evils not unlike those which prompted”

quoted by 2 later decisions, including 162 Wis. 2d 797 - Koestler v. Pollard, Rer v. Jg

Relies on Baumann v. Baumann

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1968-04-18

How this case has been cited

Cited by 47 later decisions — most recently September 2014 · most notably Twyman v. Twyman (1993), Birnbaum v. United States (1978)

4 federal appellate · 37 state decisions — followed in 11 states

240196819701980199020002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Per Curiam.

¶1In this action, plaintiff appeals from an order of the Appellate Division dismissing so much of her second amended complaint as seeks: (1) compensatory and punitive damages for the intentional or reckless infliction of mental suffering and (2) injunctive relief restraining the defendants from holding themselves out as husband and wife and defendant Littell from assuming or using defendant husband’s name. Assuming that New York law now permits “ recovery for the intentional infliction of mental distress without proof of the breach of any duty other than the duty to refrain from inflicting it ’ ’ (Halio v. Lurie, 15 A D 2d 62, 66; see, also, Battalla v. State of New York, 10 NY 2d 237; Ferrara v. Galluchio, 5 N Y 2d 16, 21), strong policy considerations militate against judicially applying these recent developments in this area of the law to the factual context of a dispute arising out of matrimonial differences. To sustain the claim for damages would result in a revival of evils not unlike those which prompted the Legislature in 1935 to outlaw actions for alienation of affections and criminal conversation (L. 1935, ch. 263; Civil Rights Law, § 80-a, formerly Civ. Prac. Act, § 61-b).

¶2The same policy reasons, which would deny an action for damages for the conduct complained of by plaintiff, should also operate to bar the request for injunctive relief. Additionally, “ [i]t is not the province of courts of equity to administer paternal relief in domestic affairs. As a matter of practical fact, such decrees cannot be enforced ” (Baumann v. Baumann, 250 N. Y. 382, 389).

¶3*12The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, without costs.

¶4Chief Judge Ftjld and Judges Burke, Scileppi, Bergan, Keating, Breitel and Jasen concur.

¶5Order affirmed.

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